Category: Medical Interpreter Blog and Resources
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Interpreting for Spiritual Care – Short Guide for Healthcare Interpreters
This article introduces medical interpreters to the amazing work of healthcare spiritual care providers, argues that medical interpreters have a responsibility to prepare for interpreting for spiritual encounters as they would for any other healthcare encounter, and provides some resources to do that. Spiritual care, which may also be called…
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Virology Terminology Resources for Medical Interpreters: from COVID-19 and HIV to Vaccines and Immunity
In light of the global pandemic, viruses have been in the news and on our mind – and while it certainly has brought viruses into the spotlight, they actually existed 3.5 billion years before humans evolved on Earth! Viruses are also most numerous microbes on earth – there are more viruses than…
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Audio recordings for consecutive note-taking practice
This is the second post devoted to note-taking for medical interpreters. The first post provided some links to resources on basic-note taking skills and provided materials for structured note-taking practice, including the key terminology worksheet and transcripts. This post contains practice materials for next step in note-taking practice. It contains…
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Breathe in, breathe out: respiratory system resources for medical interpreters
In this post, I put together resources related to anatomy of the respiratory (pulmonary) system, as well as resources related diagnosis and treatment of respiratory conditions and diseases. Whether you are a medical interpreting student preparing for medical interpreter certification exams or a working medical interpreter looking for a quick…
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Idioms for Medical Interpreters: Practice Activities
This blog post is a collection of practice activities meant both to accompany my webinar on Interpreting Idioms and Cultural References and also provide opportunities for self-study. If you haven’t attended my webinar, read this blog post which will provide you with an overview of strategies for interpreting idioms:Idioms for…
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Note-taking for Medical Interpreters: Resources and Practice Materials
Note-taking as part of consecutive interpretation is an essential skill for any interpreter – whether you’re interpreting at a medical appointment, a deposition, or a conference, and whether you’re doing this in person, over the phone or remotely. This blog post is a collection of resources for developing note-taking skills. In…
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Interpreting Humor and Jokes: Who has the Last Laugh?
What happens when either the patient or the provider makes a joke during an interpreting assignment? Or maybe worse, what do you do if someone flirts with you during an assignment? These unpredictable situations may seem harmless and playful to the person making the joke but could lead to awkward…
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Thank You For the Words: Building Your Interpreter Glossary
I’m not sure where this drawing is from but from time to time it makes rounds in various interpreter groups on social media. Aside from being funny, the image captures the true nature of the interpreter profession: it’s a highly-skilled job. Being a good interpreter involves well-developed listening and speaking…
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For Interpreters by Interpreters: Useful Resources and Interesting Content
Sometimes, it can be hard for interpreters and translators to meet in person. When I worked as a freelance medical interpreter, spending my days driving between hospitals and clinics in the Greater Seattle area, my friend and a fellow interpreter Angelika and I worked for many of the same agencies…
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Resources for Russian Medical Interpreters Part 2: Podcasts
Why podcasts? This post continues a series of posts suggesting resources specifically for Russian language interpreters. The first post listed some books in Russian that I think will be helpful for healthcare interpreters. In this article, we`ll turn our attention to Russian-language podcasts. As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, when…
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Resources for Russian Medical Interpreters Part 1: Books
A post featuring a list of resources for healthcare interpreters of the Russian labguage
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Resources for Interpreting in Cancer Care
As interpreters, we should always strive to develop our knowledge and our glossaries. Whether you’re a seasoned interpreter who wants to brush up on oncology terminology before an appointment or a new interpreter who wants to be ready for interpreting in cancer care, I hope this list of resources will…
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Idioms for Medical Interpreters: Part 1
Why Are Idioms Important For Medical Interpreters? Why is there an article on idioms in a blog for medical interpreters? Wouldn’t your time be better spent studying up on medical terminology or learning about medical procedures? My answer to these questions is this: yes and no. Undoubtedly, fluency in medical…
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Suggested podcasts for medical interpreters
One of the cannons of National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Healthcare states that ‘The interpreter strives to continually further his/her knowledge and skills.’ While this is a worthy pursuit, we all lead busy lives and we need to find a way to further our knowledge and skills that…
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Suggested reading for medical interpreters
As I wrote in this post, where I recommend that medical interpreters watch TV shows in order to improve their medical vocabulary and get some interpreting practice, stimulating input is a key factor in learning. And chances are, if you are a medical interpreter (or are thinking about becoming one),…
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Netflix and Learn: Unconventional Resources for Medical Interpreters
This blog post will describe a possibly unconventional resource for medical interpreters which can be used to add to their medical glossaries and contribute to their overall knowledge of medicine and healthcare: medical TV shows.
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Pre-session: a Medical Interpreter’s Best Friend
A pre-session can help interpreters address and avoid problematic situations. Unfortunately, it’s true that a pre-session does not grantee that everything will go perfectly. Patients and doctors might still address all their questions to the interpreter or make comments to the interpreter and not intended for each other’s ears. However,…
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Resources for Medical Interpreters: Skill-Building and Medical Terminology
Below is a collection of resources that can be used to practice consecutive and simultaneous interpreting skills, and sight translation skills. I am hoping these resources will be useful for healthcare interpreters with all levels of experience – those just starting out and preparing to take their exams or their…
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Self-care for Medical Interpreters
Being in a ‘helping’ professions has its price. We help others and we love it – but we should also remember to help ourselves by recognizing the warning signs that we are stressed, exhausted or are suffering from vicarious trauma, and by practicing self-care to both prevent and mitigate long-term…